Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating Channels
To enhance the productivity and quality of optical-grade liquid silicone rubber (LSR) and an optical convex lens simultaneously, uniform vulcanization of the molding material is required. However, little has been reported on the uniform vulcanization of LSR in the heated cavity. This paper presents...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-08-01
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| Series: | Materials |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/17/5739 |
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| author | Chil-Chyuan Kuo Qing-Zhou Tasi Song-Hua Huang Shih-Feng Tseng |
| author_facet | Chil-Chyuan Kuo Qing-Zhou Tasi Song-Hua Huang Shih-Feng Tseng |
| author_sort | Chil-Chyuan Kuo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To enhance the productivity and quality of optical-grade liquid silicone rubber (LSR) and an optical convex lens simultaneously, uniform vulcanization of the molding material is required. However, little has been reported on the uniform vulcanization of LSR in the heated cavity. This paper presents a conformal heating channel to enhance the temperature uniformity of the mold surface in the LSR injection molding. The curing rate of an optical convex lens was numerically investigated using Moldex3D molding simulation software. Two different sets of soft tooling inserts, injection mold inserts with conventional and conformal heating channels, were fabricated to validate the simulation results. The mold surface temperature uniformity was investigated by both numerical simulation and experiment. In particular, both a thermal camera and thermocouples were employed to measure the mold surface temperature after LSR injecting molding. It was found that the uniformity of the mold surface for LSR injection mold with the conformal heating channel was better. The average temperature of the mold surface could be predicted by the heating oil temperature according to the proposed prediction equation. The experimental results showed that the trend of the average temperature of five sensor modes was consistent with the simulation results. The error rate of the simulation results was about 8.31% based on the experimental result for the LSR injection mold with the conformal heating channel. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:19:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3982bf545ba047298ce1da3ac7798191 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:19:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-3982bf545ba047298ce1da3ac77981912023-11-19T08:25:12ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442023-08-011617573910.3390/ma16175739Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating ChannelsChil-Chyuan Kuo0Qing-Zhou Tasi1Song-Hua Huang2Shih-Feng Tseng3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, TaiwanDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, TaiwanLi-Yin Technology Co., Ltd., No. 37, Lane 151, Section 1, Zhongxing Road, Wugu District, New Taipei City 24101, TaiwanDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, No. 1, Section 3, Zhongxiao E. Road, Da’an District, Taipei City 106344, TaiwanTo enhance the productivity and quality of optical-grade liquid silicone rubber (LSR) and an optical convex lens simultaneously, uniform vulcanization of the molding material is required. However, little has been reported on the uniform vulcanization of LSR in the heated cavity. This paper presents a conformal heating channel to enhance the temperature uniformity of the mold surface in the LSR injection molding. The curing rate of an optical convex lens was numerically investigated using Moldex3D molding simulation software. Two different sets of soft tooling inserts, injection mold inserts with conventional and conformal heating channels, were fabricated to validate the simulation results. The mold surface temperature uniformity was investigated by both numerical simulation and experiment. In particular, both a thermal camera and thermocouples were employed to measure the mold surface temperature after LSR injecting molding. It was found that the uniformity of the mold surface for LSR injection mold with the conformal heating channel was better. The average temperature of the mold surface could be predicted by the heating oil temperature according to the proposed prediction equation. The experimental results showed that the trend of the average temperature of five sensor modes was consistent with the simulation results. The error rate of the simulation results was about 8.31% based on the experimental result for the LSR injection mold with the conformal heating channel.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/17/5739liquid silicone rubberconformal heating channelsimulationsensor modesaverage temperature |
| spellingShingle | Chil-Chyuan Kuo Qing-Zhou Tasi Song-Hua Huang Shih-Feng Tseng Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating Channels Materials liquid silicone rubber conformal heating channel simulation sensor modes average temperature |
| title | Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating Channels |
| title_full | Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating Channels |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating Channels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating Channels |
| title_short | Enhancing Surface Temperature Uniformity in a Liquid Silicone Rubber Injection Mold with Conformal Heating Channels |
| title_sort | enhancing surface temperature uniformity in a liquid silicone rubber injection mold with conformal heating channels |
| topic | liquid silicone rubber conformal heating channel simulation sensor modes average temperature |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/17/5739 |
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